The American University in Bulgaria now accepts another TOEFL substitute – the Examination for the Certificate of Proficiency in English. ECPE is already available in over 40 countries and offers students yet another test format when applying to AUBG.

ECPE is a standardized, advanced-level English as a foreign language (EFL) examination developed and scored by Cambridge Michigan Language Assessments (CaMLA). The ECPE is a test of general language proficiency in a variety of contexts; it assesses linguistic, discoursal, sociolinguistic, and pragmatic elements of the English language. The four component skills of listening, reading, writing, and speaking are evaluated through a combination of tasks. The following table provides a detailed overview of the test.

The test is offered twice a year – in June and November. It takes approximately two and half hours to complete. Students answer multiple choice questions and there is no penalty for wrong answers. Students receive their results within two months of taking the test, at the same test center.

If you have more questions about ECPE or want to find your local test centers, head over to the official website or contact the Admissions Office.

Written by Darin Kaloyanov, source: Cambridge Michigan Language Assessments.

While AUBG offers all of these services to its students, in the end they are only the stepping stones, which will help you on your way to a professional career in your chosen field of study. Without a doubt, the most important question you’ve asked yourself is where you will be in four years, if you choose AUBG as your alma mater.

Thanks to alumni data available from LinkedIn, here’s an updated answer to that ever so important question. The following is not 100% representative, as it does not include information from all AUBG graduates.

Where you will probably live.

Some dream of the American dream, others are quite happy at home!

What you will probably work or study.

Seems like being a famous banker is much more likely than working in real estate.  Yes, I know, no astronauts in the list.

Where you’ll probably work at.

AUBG alumni who shared their occupation have chosen these companies for their career.

While this list is certainly not exhaustive, it allows you to see which local and international companies are chosen by some AUBG graduates. As always, make sure to contact the Admissions Office with any questions you may have or drop us a line using live chat below.

Written by Darin Kaloyanov, data by Anatolie Cernii via LinkedIn.

AUBG@MANAKI BROTHERS FILM FESTIVAL IN MACEDONIA from Melody Gilbert on Vimeo.

Students from the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG) attend their first film festival. This short documentary reveals what it was like for the 25 journalism students from 13 countries who spent 3 days at the Manaki Brothers International Cinematographers’ Film Festival in Bitola, Macedonia in October 2011.

“Students at AUBG tend to be more mature, more worldly, and really kind of hungry for new experiences.”

This is exciting for me as a teacher. Because I am constantly trying to push them in different directions creatively and they are really receptive to that,” says Michael Cohen, a Brown University graduate and published author of short fiction stories and plays. He teaches Composition, Literature, and Creative Writing classes, and has been at AUBG for over five years.

“I absolutely enjoy working with AUBG students. There are students from not just Bulgaria and the Balkans but former Soviet republics, China now. I do not know any other school in the world that is like it. They are mostly polyglots, they speak minimum two languages.

“Most of them speak three, four, even more languages, which brings a kind of a depth to them, at least for writing. This is really refreshing too because they have such diverse experiences that they bring to the classroom.”

On liberal arts:

The liberal arts approach is a really nice balance to the typical more narrow, more focused, more specialized, almost vocational style of education. Students are going to have the opportunity to gain this broad base of knowledge in addition to studying one particular subject more deeply.

On students’ achievements:

I’ve had students who went on to MFA – Master of Fine Arts programs in Creative Writing. A lot of them are in grad school, some of them are journalists, a lot of them are involved in NGOs. I’ve been here 5 years so they are just beginning to make their way in the world, but I expect big things.

His method:

I think just by being myself and not putting too much of a hierarchy between myself and students, the students feel more at ease, they feel more comfortable.

Exciting projects:

We had a student who did poetry and put it in bubbles and released them up in the river and they had to catch them further down on the river.

On diversity:

Diversity at AUBG cuts behind this empty rhetoric of the world shrinking and global society and so on, makes it quite real. I really have the sense of not just being American anymore, but being part of a global society. It makes me feel more connected, makes my vision of the world larger.

Cohen’s current projects include working on a novel and short story collection, as well as putting together a book-length collection of Bulgarian folk and fairytales translations.

By University Relations

Cosmina Tanasoiu is no ordinary professor. She is one of those teachers students worship or steer clear of, depending on how much they like being challenged. If you intend to take a class of hers, you had better switch to high-speed writing mode; she comes to class well prepared and delivers a compelling amount of thought-provoking information. She doesn’t feel as though she has done her job well if students leave feeling like they have had just a nice conversation. She wants to make them think.

Professor Tanasoiu’s teaching career is short but impressive: Fresh out of her doctorate, she came to AUBG in 2003 and founded the European Studies program, which quickly established itself as one of the most popular disciplines at the University. She spent six of her seven teaching years at AUBG, with a year off to take fellowships at George Washington and Harvard Universities. She now chairs the joint department of the Political Science and European Studies and advises Honors-track students working on senior theses.

Many of Professor Tanasoiu’s students participate in prominent conferences attracting top young talent while former students go on to do graduate studies at high-ranked European and U.S. universities. She also advises a number of student organizations and encourages students to broaden their horizons through extracurricular activities. Working with AUBG students is gratifying, she says, because they are intellectually capable and ambitious.

Despite a busy schedule that includes meeting with students and teaching classes ranging from Intellectuals to Comparative Politics of Europe to European Union Institutions, she finds the time to do her own research and get published in prestigious European journals.

Much as she enjoys teaching, Professor Tanasoiu never thought she would work in the academia. Her parents are both university professors, but she never considered teaching as a career option until she was well into her doctoral studies in the U.K. The turning point came when she had to deliver a speech at a London conference to an audience of more than a hundred people. Throughout her presentation, Professor Tanasoiu noticed that some of the listeners were taking notes of her words. She enjoyed the feeling, but also realized how careful and responsible she had to be with what she was saying.

So with that responsibility in mind, she has mentored several generations of successful AUBG alumni who are already out there making a difference in the region and world — just like their erstwhile professor.

By Sylvia Zareva

In casual conversation, business majors at AUBG quote snippets of lectures by Professor Lucia Miree or bring up anecdotes she has told in class. A seasoned business professional and scholar, Miree strikes the right balance between the practical and the theoretical, creating a memorable classroom experience.

Miree came to AUBG in 2002 and has since taught classes on a wide variety of subjects: employee and management behaviors, organizational polices, performance management, organizational communication, health care management, health care law, organizational behavior, and human resources management. Among the most popular is her organizational theory and behavior class, of which she often has to offer several sections per semester in order to meet demand.

Miree has a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and French, two master’s degrees, in Mass Media and Public Health respectively, as well as a doctorate in Organizational Communication and Behavior from Florida State University. Her impressive professional resume includes work in the service and production industries in addition to extensive research experience. Work stress, gender issues, and health care are just some of the issues she has explored as a researcher.

Before coming to AUBG, Miree worked on a health care-related project in Israel, following a teaching stint at the University of New England. She said she looked for career opportunities outside the U.S. because of the sheer excitement of being involved in something new and challenging. AUBG proved to be just such a challenge. No two working days are alike here, which makes her job dynamic and interesting. “There is not a day that I get up and don’t want to go to work,” she says.

AUBG students make teaching here the stimulating experience it is. Miree says that her students are excellent critical thinkers and hard workers. They actively engage with the course material and are quick to respond to new ideas. “They have the ability to put together completely different fields,” Miree says.

By Kiril Kuculoski & Sylvia Zareva

Twelve years on Eastergard is one of the most beloved and charismatic professors at the University. His main teaching technique is making students laugh while relating complicated theories to funny everyday situations.

What is the secret of his bright smile and boundless energy? Eastergard says that students are his inspiration and “being among young people makes you feel young.”

His AUBG students “are more prepared from high school and also more motivated” than their U.S. counterparts. Former students of his excel in prestigious master’s programs around the world or start their own successful businesses. Currently, Eastergard is working with a student on a senior thesis project about the seasonality of companies.

A liberal arts college like AUBG is a great place to teach business, Eastergard says, because liberal education helps you become “a whole human being.” Mere technical knowledge will only teach you how to be a technocrat. “Debits and credits change, everything changes,” he says, while one needs a wider set of skills – writing, speaking, time management, and teamwork skills – in order to be a fully rounded professional.

In order to better assist his students Eastergard created a website with accounting tutorials. He dedicated all of last year to the project while he was on a sabbatical leave from AUBG. He says of the initiative that he likes to “exploit new technologies.” He worked on the site every day and it wasn’t easy, but “you always start with a high goal and then you do what you can.” Eastergard says that using modern technologies enriches the educational process immensely. “The Internet lets us explore new ways to communicate accounting knowledge outside a four-walled classroom any time of the day [or night]. The medium differs, but the material is as solid as that presented in any university classroom.”

What are Eastergard’s future plans? “Win a lottery and go to the beach,” he answers with a typical sense of humor. Then he admits that he plans to continue teaching at AUBG because having gotten used to AUBG students’ talent, ambition, and sense of humor, he cannot imagine going back to an institution in the United States.

“I am a member of the American Philosophical Association, which is where I learned about the University. I was searching for something related to business ethics, and saw this position advertised. I had no prior knowledge of the country, except that it is in Europe, which is where I was wanting to live, so I decided to apply,” explained Robert White. “My acquaintances were surprised when I told them about my choice. They knew little about the country. Is the culture much different? What is the language? Is there any internal strife? were common questions.” One of his colleagues at the University of Auckland in New Zealand was surprised he would get on the plane for Bulgaria, just knowing that we are not at war, that we speak Bulgarian and that we have good red wine. Robert says, “I did not expect anything. The last time I visited this part of the world was in 1991 when I came to Romania. That was just after the revolution and it was hard to buy things and to live there. My apartment still had bullet holes from the revolution. But that was 18 years ago. I was sure that things had changed a lot since then so I wasn’t worried. I was open to the experience.”

Robert White was born in Hamilton, a city in New Zealand almost the same size as Blagoevgrad. Later in his life, he moved to Auckland – the largest city in his country, where he lived among a great diversity of people and cultures, due to the fact that many of the people that live there are international. “In Auckland people speak many languages. It is not uncommon to go to a shop, especially grocery stores, and find that the shop assistant does not know English at all – the language I speak. So when I came here I felt no culture shock, no language shock. People are not so different, as well. Everyone here wants similar things, have similar interests and similar customs as in my native country. I am 17 500 kilometers away from home, but it doesn’t feel so far.”

Besides the similarities between the two cities, Robert White admits that there are some differences, such as the level of security. “When I went to Technopolis in Blagoevgrad, I was surprised by the obvious presence of security guards. This would be unusual in New Zealand,” he explains. But the story does not end here. “This was the first time I bought anything in Bulgaria. It was a real challenge to actually buy something, because I didn’t know the language. But I did it, and I was pleased with myself. Such minor achievements can be significant when first arriving in a new country.”
The biggest difference for Robert White between the cities of Auckland and Blagoevgrad is the size. “In Blagoevgrad everything is close, you can walk to any place you could possibly need in 10 or 15 minutes. In Auckland everything is spread out. You can’t live without a car. This is what I really like about Blagoevgrad.”

Before coming to AUBG this semester, Robert White taught for six years at the University of Auckland, where he obtained his PhD on virtue ethics. “I liked the University of Auckland, but they are free entry, so there is a range of students – some very competent, others very incompetent. I have yet to encounter any incompetent students here,” shares Robert White. He also comments on his experience with the faculty at AUBG, “Many of my colleagues are very friendly and welcoming. They helped me to settle-in better.” As Robert White recalls in his previous job at the University of Auckland, with an average of 44,000 students and a lot of faculty members, he knew only his colleagues from his department. At AUBG, everything is a lot more intimate. Not only do the students form a close society but the faculty communicate closely as well.

When asked: “How do you spend your free time?” Professor White referred to an interesting autobiography entitled The Man Without a Hobby. Then he explained, “I think that people don’t necessarily need a hobby to fill their spare time. I believe that if someone really enjoys something, then it is worthwhile to dedicate your time to that particular activity. Although not necessarily a hobby, it could be your job. For example, I really like to write articles, general articles, chapters for books, which is part of my job, because I create something new and original. That is how I fill my leisure time. Blagoevgrad is a nice academic city and a good place to write and that is my way of relaxing.”

By Antoniya Parapanova